November 03, 2016

Fear and loathing in the Never Trump bunker

The entire Never Trump movement rested on the proposition that not only would Trump lose, he would do so in an epic fashion that would take the GOP congressional majority with it.

Trump's total defeat would thus vindicate those who stood aloof, giving them the credibility and authority to redesign the Republican Party to suit their needs.

There were always two problems with this notion.

The first is now plain to see - Trump might actually win. This morning I saw a poll that still had Hillary ahead in Michigan, but she remained under 50 percent and her lead was now within the margin of error. Last week she had the state all but locked up.

If Trump does win, the Never Trumpers will be out in the cold. They will have betrayed the GOP for nothing.

This leads us to the second and more important problem: The Never Trumpers are traitors to their party.

I'm not the first one to point out how more conservative elements in the GOP coalition have been told for 20 years to shut up and close ranks behind the party standard bearers, no matter how milquetoast they may be.

Bob Dole, George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney were all go-along-to-get-along types, people who could be relied on to mouth conservative slogans and govern like moderate Democrats.

Consider the case of George W. Bush. The man basically destroyed the GOP brand through his inept leadership and failure to articulate any sort of rationale for the Iraq War. When his own military service was questioned by Dan Rather, he basically curled into the fetal position and let bloggers fight his battle for him.

That's why I'm not at all surprised that his former minion David Frum is now pathetically trying to build the "conservative case" for Hillary Clinton.

The article is but another entry in the annals of idiocy, right up there with "The Catholic Case for Abortion" and "The Libertarian Case for Gun Control."

If you're really bored, it's kind of fun to write these time-wasting exercises in sophistry - and almost as much fun to knock them down.

The important question is: who does Frum think he is going to convince?

Are the unemployed and underemployed factory workers going to marvel at his brilliance and decide that Hillary is a better choice?

Are people worried about unlimited and unvetted Muslim immigration going to allay their fears by reading his soothing words?

Maybe Frum is merely trying to convince himself that his betrayal isn't that bad and that things will be okay in the end.

I've been very hard on National Review and the Weekly Standard of late, but it's clear that even at this late hour, they've made their pact and are content with it. This demonstrates that what the Buchananite wing has said all along is really true: "mainstream" conservatism is in fact owned by rich donors and indifferent to what the rank and file think.

No sane publication would so blatantly and overtly alienate its reading public. Both magazines would be insolvent if they relied on subscriptions and advertisements to pay their bills. Clearly the plutocrats who love the idea of open borders and unlimited cheap labor are the ones paying the rent.

Whether out of misguided conviction or monetary gain, the Never Trumpers have decided to plan their flag with the Democrats. Maybe they thought they were currying favor with the new overlords.